Giants ponder half a season for Whitfield

Greater Western Sydney will unveil its latest No.1 draft pick in Sunday's pre-season clashes, but assistant coach Leon Cameron says he may only play half of the season proper.

Lachie Whitfield will take on Sydney and Carlton in Blacktown on the weekend, the start of a maiden season in which the 18-year-old will attract feverish interest and scrutiny.

The classy midfielder, part of an elite group that includes teammates and fellow No.1 picks Jonathon Patton and Tom Scully, wants to play as much of the NAB Cup as possible to seal a berth in round one of the premiership season.

But as the Giants consistently showed in their debut year, rest and rotation will be a crucial part of the teenager's development – no matter how talented he is.

Cameron admitted the club would have to limit Whitfield's playing minutes this season.

"It's a really good question and everyone's going to have their own opinion," Cameron said on Wednesday.

"Some [first-year players] are going to be a lot more mature than others in terms of their body size.

"We're going to be guided week to week ... but you can't expect him to play 22 AFL games. It's too much pressure on the lad in terms of his body and also expectation.

"If we got 10-12 games out of Lachie we'd be absolutely rapt."

Cameron, who will assume the club's coaching reins from Kevin Sheedy at the end of this season, noted Whitfield will take time to become the player everyone expects him to be.

"We'd be absolutely silly in our duty of care of Lachie if we told him he has to put on six kilos in his first year," Cameron said.

Whitfield was keen to see how he fared against AFL footballers.

"I'm a little bit nervous, playing against the bigger bodies and the stars. We might be playing against Chris Judd on the weekend," he said.

"I'm looking forward to the opportunity and seeing how I can match it."

GWS co-captain Callan Ward (knee) will miss Sunday's clashes, but he's expected to return for the side's next pre-season encounter, against Brisbane on Saturday week in Wagga Wagga.